Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Best Blogs for Writers to Read in 2012

As I said in last year's best blogs list, there are so many blogs out there by and for writers. The list below identifies blogs that I personally think are the best blogs for writers to read. If you don't agree with any of the selections (or think I missed a spot), then share your faves in the comments below. That way, I can check them out for next year's list.

Brian Klems, blogger/father/Reds fan

Writer's Digest Blogs
Many of you probably already know this, but I'm employed with F+W Media as a senior content editor. As a result, I'm rather partial to the blogs on the WritersDigest.com site. In fact, my poetry blog is hosted there (see below). So let's get these out of the way first.

Whether you're just starting your writer platform or looking to push it to the next level, check out the Author Social Media Kit from Writer's Digest. This heavily discounted bundle of platform-building tools, includes webinars on blogging, social media, and earning money with Twitter, in addition to a copy of Get Known Before the Book Deal, by Christina Katz.

My All-Star Blogs for Writers
These are the best of the best as far as I'm concerned. They post frequently, offer great content, and have been around for a while. In my opinion, everyone should be able to get something of value from these blogs.

WriterUnboxed, by several contributors (including some bloggers mentioned above and below)

And I'm loving Jeff Goins' blog, who won Write to Done's Top 10 Blogs for Writers this year. And I don't just say that because I did a guest post there recently and got like 50 comments...no, seriously. Great stuff.

Young writers who're interested in earning from their blog should be reading YoungPrePro, by 18-year-old Nigerian blogger Onibalusi Bamidele. Think you've got obstacles to earning? He can't even use Paypal and his country is synonymous with the word 'scam,' but he's still rocking it.

Great list, thanks for the tip! It'd be nice if you and your readers checked Barnestormin, my blog, which has been around several years and covers everything from writing, news about Pittsburgh, journalism tips, personal essays, breaking news and more. http://barnestormin.blogspot.comBarnestormin has been cited by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, NY Daily News writer Derek Rose, Huffington Post and many others. Essays in Barnestormin have been republished in the Sampsonia Way literary journal, Post-Gazette, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Pittsburgh Magazine and other publications. Enjoy!

Wow. What a list. www.storyfix.com does it for me. I clearly need to be careful with your site. My writing time would disappear into my reading time. A well stocked candy store here for sure. Great job.

Great list! One that I hope you'll consider next time is The Write Report, http://writereport.blogspot.com. I'm a lawyer and I blog about using the law in writing. I use TV shows and books as examples and explain what they did right or wrong, and what they could have done differently. I also talk about some legal issues affecting writers.

Great list of blogs to follow! It's fabulous to be able to start with the best and not waste time we don't have on those not worth our time... For next year, though, chck out Anne Allen's blog: annerallen.blogspot.com She also "rocks"!

Can't wait to spend some time checking out your blog favourites.One blog I check regularly is agent Janet Reid's. She is a bit scary, hilarious and trustworthy, and she thinks she's a shark.A must-read for anyone trying to get an agent/get published.

We absolutely can't forget Miss Snark's First Victim! She won by votes as the #1 writing blog on eCollegeFinder. http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/

This site is AMAZING!! But I certainly will be checking out some of the others. I truly approve of Nathan Bransford's site since he's got some awesome content in there for us both from his agent days & now his own author days. Thanks for sharing this with my #wordmongering crew!!

I like the list. I'm a beginning writer and have been going to a blog called firstlinefiction.blogspot.com where the writer gives writing prompts several times a week. When I stuck, I have somewhere to start writing.

Rochelle Melander's wonderful Write Now Coach! blog. Rochelle is a terrific writer, coach and motivator. She recently published Write-a-Thon:Write Your Book in 26 Days (And Live to Tell About It)www.writenowcoach.com/blog

Another site I visit regularly is Anne Freeman's About Freelance Writing--lots of great, informative posts for the freelancer www.aboutfreelancewriting.com

Thanks for the list Robert! The timing is perfect - I'm adding to my list of writing-related blogs I want to follow and offer to write guest posts for when my new book, Around the Writer's Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer's Resistance, is released in August.

I humbly suggest you check out my blog, www.BaneOfYourResistance.com, which is designed to be a place for writers to share insight and information about the many forms of writer’s resistance (writer’s block, procrastination, distractions, looking for answers in the fridge, keeping yourself too busy to write, etc.) so we can stop resisting and start really enjoying our writing.

Cozy mystery author Elizabeth Spann Craig has a wonderful blog filled with straightforward and very helpful writing tips and advice. She was on the Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers list in 2010 and 2011. This is her blog: http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/

I share all the others' enthusiasm for your list and your thoughtfulness in sharing it, Robert.

Even if I disagree with your choices -- it is, after all, a personal and subjective list -- all of us can always profit from what a respectable writer regards as instructive and worth our time.

I'm particularly interested because I'm in the process of building a blog myself -- hyphenman-dot-com -- and I hope I'm lucky enough to make the list next time around.

I do have one suggestion. Because all of us are pressed for time, especially if we are busy writing, it would be very helpful if you posted a sentence or two about the blogs you list. I'm not interested, for example, in poetry. Ditto for science fiction and fantasy. Some of those sites, of course, might have useful information about writing in general, and that, too, would be nice to know.

Also, I think it would be helpful to know if the recommended site is authored by a professional writer, a struggling writer, a wannabe writer or some combination thereof.

I know that would take more work and more time, of course, but I'm sure your readers would be very appreciative.

I found a blog post from 49writers.com (all from Alaska) about E.B.White visiting there in 1923. Works on two levels - something about a writer, and connects to my dad's memoir I'm about to publish when he, too, went to Alaska in 1923, as a 19-year-old to work in mines. Shared it on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I guess I ought to write a new post for my Goodreads blog as well.

Check out Sage Play and pakjobs blogs. I think they are noteworthy. pakjobs is cultural/spiritual critique. Sage Play is a wonderful blog on elder life and the growing philosophy about ageing.link http://www.pakjobs.pk

Hi, "My Name is Not Bob "! I am the author of a new blog called Young Writers Blog. Young Writers Blog is where young writers can learn how to write fresh, new novels. I really think that you would be interested. So check it out @ www.youngwritersblogdotorg.wordpress.comI'm also on twitter @clbroadnax.

I hate to sound like everyone else, but I needed this list as quality blogs for writers are hard to find. There are too many to sift through, and it's helpful to have the best ones collected in one spot.

I just posted an essay on blogging, which you might be interested in. Is blogging a Marxist activity? Is Blogging a Marxist Activity? ( http://thewordenreport.blogspot.com/2013/09/is-blogging-marxist-activity.html) at The Worden Report